


Hansel and Gretel

by Guardian_of_Hope



Series: Huntress [4]
Category: Criminal Minds, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Cross Over, Drama, Gen, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-27
Updated: 2012-06-30
Packaged: 2017-10-30 04:54:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/327977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Anna's first year with the BAU comes to a close, a case comes up that will leave her struggling with the supernatural truth and evidence that doesn't match up. Anna is also distracted by her family confronting her mother's killer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Evaluations

Anna entered Hotchner's office quietly, "You wanted to see me?" She asked as she hovered between the door and his desk.

Hotch glanced up and nodded at his rookie agent, "Yes, Anna. Shut the door please and have a seat," he told her. Quietly he studied her as she sat down. Anna's white-blond hair had been cut again recently, and if it looked messy, he'd spent enough time with her to know it was deliberate. Her green eyes were dark with worry, but that spark of intelligent mischief he'd learned to recognize was still there. Her clothes were, as always, stylish and impeccable; today it was a pair of black pants and an emerald green top. He had no doubt she was wearing the 'desert boots' she'd picked up on their last case after losing her old shoes diving in to save a victim of a vicious unsub who had taken to drowning his victims in a local river before posing them around the city as 'art'.

"Anna," Hotch said finally, "you've been with us a year now and it's time for me to go over your evaluation."

"Oh," Anna said her face lighting up a little, "I thought I was in trouble, again."

Hotch glanced down at the paper in front of him, "Not right now," he told her. "You are a good agent, Anna Campbell and although we've had some issues over the past year, you've become an asset to my team." He crossed his arms on the desk, "From your first case with us, it has been apparent how valuable your knowledge of the occult could be, and you have an investigator's turn of mind. I have no doubt that had this been the old days, when the BAU sent one or two agents on each case you would have commendations all across the board. However, while I can mark you as exceptional for most cases, I would tell you that your teamwork continues to need improvement."

"I'm trying," Anna said, "I really am. I haven't taken off on my own without orders in months!"

"I know that," Hotch said, "and any time I need agents to go into a dangerous situation you and Derek continue to be my pair of choice, but every time we get an occult case, you shut down on us. You explain as much as you need to and nothing more and then leave us in the dark until you have all the pieces together. This is a team, and we all need to know what's going on."

Anna looked down for a moment, "I'm sorry, sir," she said, looking up at him. "I wasn't aware that I was that bad. It's just, there are a lot of rituals and religions, not to mention people jumping to the wrong conclusion before we even get there. I want to do right, to know when I tell you 'this is what the unsub' is doing, it's not a hasty decision, or worse, a wrong one ignoring all the facts." She shifted a little, "Part of the problem is that my best sources for weeding out the wrong information are…questionable at best. They won't talk to the FBI."

"I understand that," Hotch replied, refraining from asking her, again, how a rookie agent who had spent the better part of her adult years not only in the military, but overseas, could have 'questionable sources'. He preferred not to have his agents lie to his face more than once. "But it doesn't mean we can't be a part of your search."

An odd expression crossed Anna's face for a moment, "I am trying sir," she said finally, "it's hard to ask for help when you know the people you ask think it's all folktales and legends. The aura of disbelief in the supernatural around here gets thicker every time we have an occult case."

There is was. Hotch knew Anna believed in the supernatural, an unshakable belief that he had often worried would lead her to claim that this or that happened because of some myth or urban legend. So far, it hadn't happened, but every time they had a case, he watched her. He'd also been by her loft, she'd invited him and Hailey to dinner once, and the salt lines she kept on the doors and windows, the odd, runic paintings and shelves filled with occult books, not to mention her weapon collection, showed how serious Anna was about her beliefs. "I don't know what to tell you," he said finally, "but if you ask, we would all be glad to help, no matter our beliefs."

Anna gave him another odd look, but nodded. "I'll try," she replied simply. "I just wish I had a believer on the team. Garcia comes close, but that's about it." Then she shook her head, "Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"That's ok," Hotch said. He looked at the form again, "You've actually done well in the injury account, having only the dislocated shoulder and bruises from the case in Hawaii. You do get along well with the team, especially Derek and Elle. You aren't afraid to speak up if you know something or have an idea, and you are exceptional at talking to the families of victims. I believe one even said it was like talking to a preacher."

Anna flushed and ducked her head, but didn't say anything.

"Excluding the occult cases, you aren't afraid to be wrong," Hotch continued, "and you aren't afraid to admit you don't know or understand something. You listen, you work at correcting your faults, and you never make the same mistake twice. You've proven able to keep your temper when it's important and you're tolerant of others."

Anna smirked a little there, remembering, no doubt, the Bible thumpers in Ohio who had nearly blown a fuse when they'd found out about her not-so-secret pagan beliefs. Her response to their fire and brimstone declarations had been simple, but memorable, 'Tolerance is letting someone explain to you why you are going to a hell you don't believe in without punching them in the face.'

"All in all," Hotch said, "you have been a more than satisfactory addition to our team. I look forward to another year with you."

"As do I," Anna replied, "and I promise, next occult case, I'll try for a little more transparency."

They both started to stand, and someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Hotch called.

J.J. stepped in, "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, "but we've got a missing children case in Missouri that Chief Strauss wants us to start on now."

"We were just finishing up," Hotch said, as he straightened up. "Anna, please continue to work on what we discussed."

"Yes sir," Anna replied, "thank you." She hesitated, "Are we going straight to the plane, or the briefing room?"

"Briefing first," J.J. replied firmly.

They walked down to the briefing room, where Garcia, Derek and the others were waiting. "Hey," Anna said as she sat beside Derek. "You were right."

Derek grinned at her, "I never get tired of hearing that."

"If I may have your attention," J.J. said, "we have thirteen missing children in Jefferson City, Missouri."

"We're just being called now?" Derek said.

"They all went missing last night," J.J. replied, "or rather, were discovered missing this morning when their parents went to wake them for school. I don't have files for all the children yet, but so far it's six girls and six boys between the ages of ten and eleven and one nine year old girl."

"Garcia," Hotch said, "start with the sex offenders list; find out who lives within fifty miles of the area, then move on to parolees and convicted people whose crimes include children. Everyone else, wheels up in thirty."

Anna had an odd look on her face as she stood up, "Sir," she said finally, "thirteen is a powerful, magical number and Halloween is this weekend. Should I bring my books, just in case?"

Hotch hesitated for a moment, "If you think you should," he said finally.

"Ok," Anna replied, "I will." She smiled a little, "Better to be safe than sorry." She followed the rest of the team out the door as her cell phone rang. "Hello?" She asked, not stopping in her hurry to her desk. "Dean, hey, what's up?" Hotch shook his head, Anna's devotion to her brothers was admirable although Derek's story of what happened with her father made him wonder at the dependency the siblings appeared to share.  _"Vampires?"_  Anna suddenly exclaimed, bringing Hotch out of his musings. It also attracted attention from the rest of the room as well, but Anna had already lowered her voice as she grabbed her bag and headed out, no doubt intending to get the books from her truck.

As Hotch grabbed his own bag, he wondered what books Anna would deem necessary for this case. The case with the bible thumpers had included Anna wandering around with a translated copy of 'The Devine Cow'; mostly for upsetting the people they had had to work with.


	2. Arrival

Jennifer Jareau wasn't a profiler like the rest of the team. Although she was learning from the examples provided by her team, she didn't read people as automatically as the others did. Anna, on the other hand, was easy to read to a certain extent. J.J. was positive that no one could accurately read Anna like a book, but you could read the cover and figure some things out.

As the plane landed in Jefferson City and J.J. was jolted out of contemplating the text book reading Anna Campbell, she realized she might have taken her book metaphor a little too far in this case. "Good book," she asked Anna to cover her staring.

Anna rolled her eyes, "It's dryer than War and Peace actually. I wouldn't read it if I didn't have to."

"What are you reading?" Reid asked.

"Criminal Behavior," Anna replied, "required reading to finish my bachelor's apparently."

"I thought you had a bachelor's degree in criminal psychology," Reid said.

"I'm a couple of credits short," Anna said, "I should have gotten the bachelor's when I collected my masters, but since I transferred colleges there was an issue with my credits and I have to retake some classes." She shoved the book in her bag with a growl, "One of them isn't available on-line or through distant learning so I don't know when I'll actually finish my degree."

"Let's go," Hotch said, alerting them to the open plane door.

The team filed out and into the waiting SUVs, J.J. found herself sharing with Reid, Anna, and Derek while Gideon, Hotch, and Elle took the second SUV. "So," Anna said after they left the airport, "how do you get thirteen children out of separate houses in six hours or less undetected?"

"You'd need a crew," Derek replied from the driver's seat, "vehicles, drivers, and people to go inside. You'd need something to keep the kids asleep, and to transport them outside. You'd have to make sure there were no late working neighbors. Whoever did this must have been watching the families for weeks to be able to pull this off that fast."

Anna hummed a little, "Thirteen kids, thirteen vehicles plus drivers and thirteen intruders. That's twenty-six people. I wish we could see this on a map. Maybe two vehicles, like vans, six kids in one, seven in the other. That's two drivers and two intruders minimum." J.J., who was sitting in the front passenger seat glanced back to see Anna writing stuff down in a spiral. She glanced at Reid, "I've never heard of thirteen kids vanishing at once," she said, "have you?"

"Not at night from different locations," Reid replied after a brief moment, "actually, not this many kids without a hostage situation that I've ever heard of."

Anna nodded and her phone beeped, she checked it, "No history of mass disappearances on the internet," she commented.

"Why would you check that?" J.J. asked.

Anna glanced up at here and frowned for a moment, then she sighed, "Sometimes if you look at old records, you can see a pattern of this or that happening. It might not give you a cause, but if you know already that, say, people in one area tend to go mad every thirty years and commit mass suicide, you can look for a natural cause as opposed to an imposed cause." She sat back for a moment, "I don't know why, but I keep thinking of the pied piper."

"The fairy tale?" Derek said, "With the rats?"

"The original story doesn't have rats," Anna replied.

"She's right," Reid said, "the original story is simply about missing children from a town in Germany."

Anna sounded mused as she spoke into the space Reid left, "I was always curious at how much literature was spun off the line 'it is one hundred years since our children left'. All the different theories that abounded, about immigration or plague or what have you. But it all boils down to nobody really knows what happened but the story is that a hundred and thirty children vanished from Hamelin a very long time ago and settled Transylvania, or Poland." There was silence for a moment, "I did a class on fairy tales for my degree. It's fascinating to see the stories behind the legends that we all know."

J.J. smiled to herself, Anna was an unusual woman, intelligent but often willing to downplay that intelligence, good with people but quick to become closed off and defensive when people got too close, and athletic, but willing to use her brain over her muscle. Children trusted Anna almost instinctively and Anna, although she often claimed she didn't like children, treated them like people. Anna had once referred to 'the last, the lost, and the least' as being the people who saw everything, and since then J.J. had seen her ask questions of people no one else would think to ask and come away with information or insights that would make or break their case.

Hotch had asked all the agents for an opinion on Anna for his evaluation, something he'd never done before, but had led to them all talking about their occult specialist. The consensus was that she was an asset to the team no matter the case, and while she managed to confine her occasional disappearances to insomnia related pie binges, she was the quirkiest FBI agent any of them knew.

"J.J.," Anna said, pulling J.J. from her thoughts, "we're here."

They headed into the police station as a unit, instinctively rearranging themselves so that Gideon, Hotch, and J.J. took point, with Derek and Elle flanking Reid and Anna following them. An older man with graying brown hair spotted them and hurried over, "I'm Sherriff Michaels," he said, "can I help you?"

"Sherriff," J.J. replied, "I'm Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone this morning. This is my team, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, SSA Jason Gideon, Agent Derek Morgan, Elle Greenaway, Doctor Spencer Reid and Anna Campbell."

"Sherriff," the group said in near perfect unison.

"Thank you," Michaels said, "for coming. We've got a spare office set up for you, if there's anything you need, let me know."

"The families," Hotch began.

"They're all at the school right now," Michaels replied, "the elementary school. We've set up all the volunteer searchers there." He hesitated, "I'm sorry, I've never had this, thirteen children."

"We'll find them," Hotch said firmly. "J.J., Gideon, Elle, go over to the school and speak with the families. Anna, Derek, I want you two to go to the homes of the children. Reid get on the phone with Garcia and start a geographic profile including sex offenders and parolees in the area. You'll work here for right now."

J.J. nodded, "We'll call you if we hear anything," she told Anna and Derek before following Gideon and Elle back outside.

Behind her, she heard Anna say, "What are we looking for here?"

J.J. hesitated for a moment, and then realized that Anna wouldn't know what was going on because she hadn't been involved in a missing child case with the BAU, much less such an extreme example of one. Still, J.J. knew they could trust Anna to do the best job she could. Whatever else was or wasn't going on in Anna's life, the woman was a born investigator, and there wasn't a member of the team who would deny that simple fact. J.J. pulled her head out of the clouds as the door to the station shut behind her and hurried to catch up with the others. They had thirteen missing children to find, after all.


	3. A Hint

Of all the people on the BAU team, Derek knew he could read Anna the best. It wasn't about her face, because Anna had an unnerving amount of control over her expression, it was her words and her gestures. By the time they'd reached the third house, Anna had become almost terse and her gestures were sharp and cutting. These clues told Derek that Anna was frustrated, she couldn't find the information that would feed into her private theory and she was clearly about to toss the idea for a different one. "Where do you want to start?" Derek asked as the sheriff's deputy who had been escorting them unlocked the door to the victim's home.

"Downstairs," Anna replied, "is the basement finished?"

Deputy Hatcher blinked at her, "I believe it is," he said finally.

"Then that's where I'm starting," Anna said, heading through the front entryway towards what looked to be a kitchen.

"I'll take the bedroom," Derek replied and headed upstairs. Hatcher followed him quietly. "Did you want something?" Derek asked as they entered the victim's room; this was Sparrow Amsel's room, an eleven year old boy who clearly loved space what with the star posters and model rockets that filled the room.

"Agent Campbell," Hatcher said, "is she mad at me?"

Derek shook his head, "No, she's not. She's just frustrated."

"Derek!" Anna suddenly shouted, "Get down here, and bring an evidence bag!"

Derek was moving without thought, he headed for the stairs at a fast walk, "I'll get the bag," Hatcher said.

"Thanks," Derek replied before taking the stairs two at a time. He swung down the hallway to the kitchen, finding an open door and a set of stairs to one side of the room. "Hatcher's getting the bag," he told Anna as he came down the stairs, "What did you find?"

Anna was standing over an old couch from which someone, most like Anna herself, had pulled a cushion off. She gestured, "This is a good family, Roman Catholic, fish Friday, rosary, and 'Hail Mary' sorts. That has no place in this house."

Derek circled around the couch to find an innocuous leather bag sitting on the couch, "What is it?" He asked.

"I'd have to break it open to be sure," Anna hedged, "but it looks like a hex bag. Depending on their creator and purpose, hex bags can be white or black magic. It  _could_  be white magic, but given the circumstances, I think it's safe to say the Amsel family has enemies who practice Wicca."

"But that," Derek began.

"Whoever stuck it here believes," Anna interrupted him. "Finding out if it's in the family, so to speak, or an outside influence could make a great deal of difference. If it's an outside influence, who's to say our witch didn't take matters into their own hands because it was taking too long?"

"Anna, every case isn't occult," Derek said.

"You think I don't know that!" Anna half shouted, "You think I haven't been looking for standard evidence? Derek, sometimes the flash of white in a window is a ghost, but most of the time, it's just a curtain. I live in the real world, not everything is supernatural, but not everything can be quantified and explained by science either." She stepped back, "I have yet to find a reason for the duckbilled platypus, for instance."

"Got the evidence bag," Hatcher announced, thumping down the stairs.

"It's probably nothing," Anna said, her good natured mask slipping into place faster than Derek had thought possible, "but I know occult and that looks like a hex bag."

"Bag it and tag it," Derek agreed, "we have to cover every angle on this."

Watching Anna, however, Derek wondered just what her 'real' world actually was. It was the first time he'd heard her call a case occult related without obvious signs that anyone would have pointed out. Now that he thought about it, however Anna often explained things in a way that seemed to indicate that  _she_  didn't believe what she was saying, but she never actually came out and said she didn't believe in what she was saying. Often in an occult case, she often gave valuable insight into the unsub's mind based on what was clearly a vast knowledge and familiarity with the occult.

As they put the couch together and continued through the house, Anna's cheerful personality surfaced slowly, she even went so far as to apologize to Hatcher as they moved on to the next house.

Even though they found no other signs at any of the houses, Anna's cheerfulness didn't fade. If anything, she seemed to get even more buoyant. When they walked into the Sheriff's office, Derek headed over to Hotch as Anna followed Hatcher into the evidence processing. "Well?" Hotch asked.

"Anna found something," Derek said quietly, "that she called a 'hex bag' at one house, the Amsel's place. She tried to play it off as 'probably nothing' but I don't think she believes that."

"What is a hex bag?" Hotch asked.

"Some sort of magic thing," Derek replied. "Anna said they could be for 'white or black' magic."

Hotch was silent, thinking, and Derek tried not to fidget. "Keep an eye on her," Hotch said finally. "Try not to let her suggest anything to the families about the occult."

"Do you honestly think I'm that stupid?" Anna asked, startling them both. "Hotch; I wasn't going to say anything because I don't have a reason to. I found a stupid leather bag of a design that matches an old Wicca tradition." Derek eyed Anna for a long moment, she looked different, and he couldn't put his finger on why. It was as if something in her had changed, had settled where before it had been another aspect of her chaos. "Even if there's anything in it, you know that it doesn't mean it works. Like I told Derek, it could have been planted by the unsub to do something to the family and then when it didn't work, they did something else. It could be old, that couch looked like bachelor pad turned family room. It could even be a family thing, which I doubt. They were a good, Roman Catholic family."

"How could you tell?" Derek asked.

"Picture of the Blessed Mary in the hallway, Bibles in the living room, kitchen and basement, basement one was embossed with Sparrow's name. A masculine rosary was with Sparrow's Bible. Finally, the church directory was for a Catholic Church I presume to be the local one." Anna replied dryly, "None of the families we've looked into today were obviously pagan although, interestingly enough, the Padmore place had an old devil's trap carved on the bottom of the mantel over the fire place." She crossed her arms, "Hotch, I'm not saying this is my specialty. It's not. I'm trying not to grasp at straws either because it's a kidnapping case. You said yourself I should start telling the team about the occult. I found something that looked Wiccan, I pointed it out, explained it and now you two think I've gone off the deep end." She tilted her head, "Now do you see why I don't talk about the occult even when it's my kind of case? It's not worth the suspicion of everyone around me." Her stomach growled loudly, "So if you'll excuse me, Hatcher says the diner across the street serves the best pie in town and I am hungry."


	4. Pie and Mysteries

Anna couldn't hold in her sigh of relief as she left the station, as soon as she was sure Derek wasn't going to follow her, she pulled out her cell and called Bobby. "Singer Salvage," the older hunter said.

"It's Anna," Anna said, "Can a hex bag be used to control someone?"

"Not to my knowledge," Bobby replied, "Why?"

"Thirteen children have gone missing," Anna replied as she crossed the street. "I found a hex bag in the home of a Roman Catholic family. I was trying to think of ways a hex bag could tie into the case. Best I could think of was using those hex bags for mind control."

"I'll look into it," Bobby replied.

"Thanks," Anna replied, "I'm still trying to figure out if there's a ritual involving thirteen children, specifically targeting Halloween or Samhain. I don't think there is, children aren't used in a lot of rituals."

"You're darned right there aren't," Bobby replied, "there's next to none involving children in any significant fashion. Where are you, any ways?"

"Jefferson City, Missouri," Anna said as she entered the diner.

"Jefferson City," Bobby said, "no, I don't know of anything being worked there. You might want to talk to your friends at the Road House about that one."

"I'll give them a ring," Anna replied as she waved to the waitress and claimed a booth. "It's just that you are my best source for this sort of thing you know."

"I get it, you idjit," Bobby replied.

Anna smiled and hung up. "What can I get you, hon?" The waitress asked.

Anna glanced up at the menu over the counter, "A country fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and a slice of what I was told is the state's best strawberry pie. The order of desert and dinner are interchangeable if necessary."

"Not a problem," the waitress replied. "Passing through?"

"Not exactly," Anna replied. "I'm with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, we were sent out to help find the missing children."

"Isn't that the most horrible thing ever," the waitress said, "I swear, my lad's fourteen, and I nearly didn't let him stay for football today. Do you think there's any more danger?"

"At the moment," Anna said, glancing at her name tag, "Molly, no. As long as sensible, standard safety procedures are followed, we will lose no more children and the ones lost will be returned swiftly." She smiled, "I don't suppose you know the children, or anything about the families?"

"Let me put your order in and if I think of something, I'll let you know," Molly replied. She started to turn away, and then turned back, "Actually there is something. It's about those children. About five years ago, they were all sick, they fell ill one by one, and people were saying they'd die, but they got better all of the sudden. No one I spoke to could explain it."

"Thank you," Anna replied. As soon as Molly walked away, she dialed a number she knew well.

"Harvelle's Road House," a familiar voice said.

"Jo, it's Anna Campbell," Anna said cheerfully.

"Anna! How are you, how's the FBI, are they treating you well?" Jo Harvelle asked eagerly.

"Whoa there, Jo," Anna said, "I'm fine, I've been busy. They're treating me like an FBI agent. I was just wondering if I could talk to your mom about something."

"Sure, she's not busy, hand on a sec, I'll go get her." Jo replied.

"Thanks Jo," Anna said.

The phone was set down and Anna could hear background noise as she waited. Moments later, the phone was picked up, "Anna?"

"Hi Ellen," Anna said, "I have a question for you; it will only take you a few moments."

"What's the question?" Ellen asked.

"Do you know of anyone being in Jefferson City, Missouri, about five years ago? It had to do with children." Anna said quietly.

"Not off the top of my head," Ellen replied, "I can ask around if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate it," Anna replied. "Just get back to me as soon as possible."

"I will, Anna. You take care of yourself." Ellen replied.

"Better than most," Anna replied and hung up. She flipped open her address book and soon had Garcia's number. She dialed it, and waited, "Office of Supreme Genius," Garcia said brightly.

"Garcia, this is Anna," Anna said, "I was wondering if you could check something and pass it back to Hotch for me."

"Sure," Garcia said, "what is it?"

"The waitress at the diner told me that the children who are missing all fell sick five years ago and got better again miraculously. It could be nothing, but it is pretty suspicious that it was this group of thirteen, if the story is correct."

"I will check medical records and pass it on to Hotch," Garcia said, "is everything ok over there? Derek sounded weird when I talked to him a few minutes ago."

Anna shrugged and smiled as Molly brought over her meal. "I shamed him and Hotch earlier. I found some supernatural signs and they got freaked out that I was going to start telling the world the case had an occult base. I'm not stupid, I know that it doesn't, I just pointed things out as evidence, as is my job."

Garcia chuckled, "You tell them, Anna. Next time Morgan calls I'll give him a piece of my mind too."

"You don't have to," Anna said, "I managed to take care of things quite nicely already."

"I'm still going to," Garcia replied. "None of them are usually this stupid."

"I know," Anna replied. "But I can forgive them; I got a little excited when I found the hex bag. It was my kind of a mystery, even if it really meant nothing to the case." She paused, "Listen, my food just arrived, I'll tell you more about everything later, if you'd do that favor for me."

"Not a problem, Anna," Garcia replied. "I'll talk to you later."

"Until next time," Anna replied.

The food was good, and the pie as excellent as promised, and Anna headed back to the station feeling better. In fact, having spotted the rest of the team arrive, she ordered sandwiches for them and extra pie for herself to keep her good mood. She had just reached the police station parking lot when her phone went off. Anna cursed and juggled for her phone, "Anna Campbell," she said.

"Anna, its David," The caller said.

"Uncle Dave!" Anna said cheerfully, "I haven't heard from you in a coon's age, what's up?"

"Ellen asked me to pass on that there was a case in Jefferson City five years ago. She hasn't gotten details yet, because the only guy who remembers is a lush, but there should be information by tomorrow."

"Excellent," Anna replied.

"Do you think this a Hunter's case?" David asked.

"No," Anna said as she paused outside the door, trying to figure out how she'd open it. "So far, it looks exactly like what it is; missing kids. If it's anything more, then we'll figure things out. How's your little trip going?"

"I'm going to strangle the next criminal justice major who wants to ask who sure I was about this profile or that," David said quietly.

Anna grinned as the door opened and a police officer stepped out, "Hold the door please," she said politely. "I won't tell anyone you said that Uncle Dave," she added into the phone as she stepped around the officer and into the station. "After the boys, you'd be next on the list of people I'd hate to hunt."

"I will do my best to restrain my homicidal impulses," David replied, "and do you really have to call me that?"

"I don't have to," Anna agreed as she approached the conference room where the team was gathered, "I just want to."

"You are too much like your father sometimes," David told her sternly.

"Sometimes," Anna said as she stepped into the room, "that's a complement. I'll talk to you later, ok? Be safe Uncle Dave."

Anna put her purchases on the table, "You too, Anna," David replied.

"That's why I have a team," Anna replied, "bye."

"Good bye Anna," David replied, "now hang up the phone and quit stalling them."

Anna hung up and glanced around the room, "I brought food, I wasn't sure if anyone had thought to get something to eat so I just got sandwiches for everyone. The pie is mine. Did Garcia call back with that information yet?" Finding everyone still staring at her, Anna picked up the container marked 'pie' and, assuming her best puzzled innocence expression, asked them; "What?"


	5. Ransom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for bad poetry

The thing about Anna, Elle thought, was that she did forgive easily. The other agent had a habit of getting angry fast, but cooling off and forgiving easily. Of course, the speed of that forgiveness always seemed to be related to how quickly Anna procured pie, and how good the pie was. When Derek had mentioned that they'd gotten Anna upset over some occult related evidence, the whole team had anticipated her return from the diner to include the sharp side of her tongue, not sandwiches for everyone.

As the sandwiches were spread around and Anna toyed with her pie, Hotch said, "Let's go over what we know. Gideon, how did things go at the school?"

Gideon nodded, "Things seemed to be what you'd expect. The whole community was involved to some extent. Search parties were being coordinated, someone had organized people to make and hang flyers, and the families were being comforted. No one there had heard of a ransom, and none of the parents could think of a single reason why someone would go after their kids."

"I spoke to the Catholic priest," Elle added, "he was there primarily because of the Amsel family."

"Hah," Anna declared, "I told you." She pointed at Derek with a triumphant smirk, and then blushed, "Sorry, Elle."

"It's ok," Elle said. "The priest seemed pretty sure that they weren't hiding anything."

J.J. nodded, "I spoke with some of the press who were hanging around. None of them knew anything more to add. We should arrange for a press conference soon."

Derek glanced at Anna, who put down a forkful of pie, "I found some things," she said, "occult related, but I still don't think they had any bearing on the case. One was a hex bag, a type of magical object used either to cause misfortune or protect the bearer. I haven't heard what was inside that one yet to know either way. It was, ironically, at the Amsel house. The other item, which I'm doubly sure wasn't related, the Padmore family had a devil's trap carved into the mantel of their fireplace."

"What makes you say that?" Gideon asked, "About the… devil's trap?"

"Because you use a trap for two purposes," Anna replied, "to trap a demon for an exorcism or to prevent one from entering. That mantel was old, probably original to the house; anyone could have carved it there. The windows were new, and the doors as well. If there were corresponding traps carved into the lintels and window frames, they've been removed and never replaced so I doubt that was the current generation's doing." She toyed with her fork, "I saw no signs of forced entry though. Either someone already had a key, or the kids walked out on their own."

"I didn't either," Derek said, "no sign that someone had used a window to get in or out."

"The houses were all confirmed locked," Reid said, "in the police reports. With the exception of some upstairs windows, all of the houses were locked up."

"Lovely," Anna muttered, staring at her pie. "A regular locked door mystery."

Someone knocked on the door and they all looked up in surprise as an officer opened the door. "Agent Hotchner," the man said, looking a little stunned, "there's been a ransom note."

Elle stood, leaving her sandwich on its wrapper, half a second behind Hotch, "Details," Hotch said.

The man gestured behind him, "It was mailed to the Pembrokes, no return address."

They walked into the main room where the Pembrokes waited. George and Hannah Pembroke was a middle class couple made unique by the face that George was white and Hannah was African American. They had their older son, Kenneth, with them. "Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke," J.J. said, stepping forward, "This is Supervisory Special Agents Hotchner and Gideon, as well as Special Agents Derek Morgan, Anna Campbell and Doctor Spencer Reid."

"May we see the note?" Hotch said politely, holding out his hand.

"Have the other families been notified?" Gideon asked.

"We're about to start calling around," Sheriff Michaels replied.

"We came straight here," George said as he gripped his wife's hand. "It seemed the best thing to do."

"Thank you," Hotch replied as he studied the letter, "Gideon, look at this," he tilted the envelope towards the older man, "the date."

Gideon studied the mailing label for a moment, "I see," he said simply. He turned to Michaels, "Does the post office here have security cameras?"

"All three offices do," Michaels replied, "why?"

Hotch turned the envelope over, "It was mailed from Jefferson City, three days ago."

Gideon scanned the ransom note, "The kidnapper knows you two," he said, "Do you know what he's talking about?"

The Pembrokes looked at each other, and shook their heads, "No," George said firmly.

"I can't think of anything," Hannah added.

Gideon looked back at the note and began to read,

" _Once upon a time,_

_You were given a sign_

_Of things, not right_

_In desperate plight_

_You came to me_

_To ask what it could be_

_I did a job_

_I stopped a mob_

_I answered your need_

_My warnings you did not heed_

_Now I claim the payment_

_Now you'll pay atonement_

_Ten grand per child_

_I think is mild_

_Except the Pembrokes_

_Such_ nice _folks_

_They'll have to pay times three_

_Remember the Hunter's creed_

_It never says we work for free."_

Elle glanced over as Anna shifted beside her, although Anna's face was a mix of concerned and bland, her hands were clinched behind her to hard her knuckles were white, and she swallowed a few time convulsively.

"What's a hunter's creed?" Morgan asked softly.

Anna shifted again as everyone else spoke up, usually with 'I don't know', although one deputy, who had perched on his desk, responded with, "Ten gets you one it's not 'harm none."

"All right," Hotch said, "Gideon, arrange with the Pembrokes and the other families to set up in case the kidnapper contacts them again. Morgan, I want you to get on the phone to Garcia and look into getting those security tapes. J.J., we are going to need to put together a press conference in the morning. Elle, Anna, Reid, go out to the post offices, ask around about strangers mailing envelopes."

"Yes sir," Anna said, before either Elle or Reid could speak up, "I'll hit the ladies' room, and then I'll head out."

Elle watched Anna walk away; wondering what was going through the other agent's mind. Something about that ransom note had bothered Anna, but it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything just yet. "Reid," Elle said, "I'd like to drive, and drop you off first." She turned to her teammate, "I want to ask Anna something personal."

"Ok," Reid replied, he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder. "I don't mind. I'll get directions to the post office while we're waiting."

It didn't take long for Anna to come back, her stride was quick and precise, and her bearing, for a change, reminded people that she had once been a Marine. Anna normally had a more casual walking style; it was only when she was well and truly angry that her military mannerisms showed up so strongly. Elle held up the keys, "I'm driving," she said.

"Shotgun," Reid added as he joined them.

A look of surprise flickered over Anna's features, and then she clapped Reid on the shoulder. "As you wish," she said and headed outside.


	6. Huntress

Once Reid was dropped off, Anna slid easily into the front seat, but instead of commenting on something, she stared out the windshield with a pensive expression. "Anna," Elle began.

"I don't know of a hunter's creed," Anna said.

"I wasn't going to ask," Elle replied.

"Sorry," Anna replied, "I'm just; I'm trying to put this all together in my mind. It doesn't make sense."

"We won't know much until after Hotch and Gideon talk to the families," Elle pointed out.

"True," Anna said slowly, and sighed, "I wish I could talk to them. No FBI, no cops, no badges, just me, them, and the truth."

"You think that Hotch and Gideon won't get the truth?" Elle asked glancing over at Anna and back to the road.

"I think they'll hear what they want to hear," Anna replied quietly, "and I don't know what questions they should." Elle glanced back over at Anna, who was frowning at her phone, "Anna Campbell?" Elle turned back to the road. "McCrae, I thought you were letting me get on with my life, remember?" Elle glanced over at Anna, who had an oddly blank look on her face. "It's the same as last time, huh? What's the plan?" Anna paused and rolled her eyes, "That's Plan Z, McCrae. What's Plan  _A?"_

Elle tried to focus on driving, but Anna's odd commentary kept distracting her, and it was with a sigh of relief that Elle finally pulled into the parking lot of the post office. "All right," Anna said, "that makes a sensible Plan A. Although I do prefer Plan R and Plan Y myself," Anna unbuckled her seatbelt and laughed, "Plan Y is that I put all that lovely training of mine to use and all you're going to need are body bags." Anna hopped out the SUV and shut the door firmly. Elle watched Anna head into the post office, wondering what Anna was talking about, and with whom. Then she shook her head and pulled out, heading for the third post office.

By the time Elle came back around to pick up Anna and Reid, she was frustrated and hungry, her half eaten sandwich in the conference room had been hours ago and probably wasn't any good now. Reid looked distracted when he got in, "Everything all right?" Elle asked.

"I was just wondering if anyone thought to put our sandwiches in the break room refrigerator," Reid replied.

"Great minds think alike," Elle said, "I was thinking the same thing."

Anna, sitting in the backseat hummed for a moment, "I texted Derek earlier," she said, "He said it would be taken care of." She paused for a long moment, "I didn't want my pie to taste off when I got back to it."

"Right," Elle said, "did you get that argument straightened out, by the way?"

"Yes," Anna said, "Andy's a bit of an idiot sometimes, but I did appreciate the heads up."

"Is something wrong?" Reid asked.

"Some old friends have showed up," Anna replied, "and he thought I should know about it."

"That was nice of him," Elle commented.

"I'm sorry," Anna said, "I'm trying not to be overly sarcastic, but they aren't friends in the good way. They're more of a 'why aren't you dead yet and why can't I kill you' friends."

"Oh," Elle replied.

"Wouldn't that mean they're enemies?" Reid asked.

"I don't have a human enemy," Anna replied, "that's boring. Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Elle replied.

/…Anna's POV…\

They reached the station to find Morgan waiting for them, "What's up?" Anna asked.

Morgan shrugged a little, "Hotch wants to see you, Anna. He's waiting in the sheriff's office. Reid, Elle, I'll show you were we put the sandwiches."

"Ok," Anna said and headed inside. It took her seconds to see Hotch, sitting behind the sheriff's desk, and Anna hurried over, her stomach dropping at the thought of what could have happened. She tapped on the door to the office and slid it open, "Derek said you wanted to see me, sir?" Anna asked.

"Come in and have a seat," Hotch replied.

Anna closed the door, reflecting that she wished  _she_  had Hotch's poker face. He probably cleaned up the tables wherever he played. She settled in one of the hard plastic chairs uneasily, "If this is about the hex bags," she began.

"I received a call today," Hotch interrupted her, "from Andrew McRae."

Anna smoothed her expression, "What did he want?" She asked.

"He wanted me to make sure that you  _didn't_  go haring off on your own during this case. He wanted me to do my best to keep you in one piece." Hotch said, "He wouldn't tell me why, but I'm wondering, why would a US Marshal want me to look after you."

Anna shrugged pretending to nonchalance that her mind couldn't handle, "Over protective ex boyfriend."

"Marshal McCrae is old enough to be your father," Hotch said, giving her a stern look.

"I never said he was  _mine,_ " Anna protested, but subsided. "He's a friend of the family, ok? I don't know why he called you though. He was bitching at me earlier."

"McCrae requested that I ensure that you didn't go running off on your own," Hotch replied, "that you were a key witness for a case he's working on. Also, said to tell you that your admirer is back."

Anna rolled her eyes, "He has to be melodramatic, doesn't he?"

"He gave me the impression that your admirer was pretty dangerous," Hotch replied.

Anna shook her head, "It's nothing I can't handle. Nothing I couldn't handle before, and if he thinks he's going to try again, he's welcome to."

"Anna, what's going on?" Hotch asked.

Anna considered her options, looked Hotch full in the eyes, and said, "I don't trust you enough to answer that question." Then she stood up and headed for the office door.

"This meeting isn't over," Hotch began.

"Then call it a meeting of one," Anna replied, "because my past is not your concern. We have a baker's dozen children missing, a screwed up ransom note and precious little else." She left the office, giving the door a resounding slam that did little to release any of her anger, tension, or fear. Ignoring the inquiring glances around her, Anna headed outside.

She stood under the afternoon sun, tilting her face upward to let the heat seep into her as she took calming breaths. Memories surged and Anna forced them back. "It's a lovely afternoon," a woman said.

Anna opened her eyes and found Hannah Pembroke nearby smoking a cigarette, she was seated on a bench that hugged the wall and provided a bit of shade. "Very relaxing," Anna agreed and ambled over to her, "Anna Campbell."

"With the FBI," Hannah agreed, "Hannah Pembroke."

Anna nodded and leaned a little against the bench. "I figured you folks would have left by now."

Hannah shook her head slightly, "I can't go back there," she said quietly, "not without my baby."

Anna sat down beside her, "Do you want to talk?" She asked quietly.

"I don't think you'd believe me," Hannah replied.

"I don't know," Anna said, "a shtriga isn't the weirdest thing I've run across in my life."

Hannah eyed her for a moment, "Hunter?" She asked finally.

"Huntress," Anna corrected, "mostly retired." She leaned back against the building beside the bench. "Raised in the life. What about you?"

"My uncle was one," Hannah replied. "Rufus Turner."

Anna considered the Hunters she knew and shook her head slightly, "I don't know the name."

"He used to hunt with Bobby Singer," Hannah said hesitantly.

"Now Bobby, I know," Anna replied. "He's my adopted uncle."

"My mom died when she went with them on a Hunt," Hannah said quietly, "and I swore I wouldn't get involved again." She glanced up at Anna, "George doesn't know. We met after it happened. When the children got sick, I knew it was something bad. I-I called Uncle Rufus for help. He said he sent someone, but, I never knew his name. George and I were at the hospital when the shtriga went after our older boy. The Hunter dealt with the creature and I thought that was it. A few weeks later, he sent me a letter, asking for money. I didn't know what to do. George didn't know what had happened, and I wasn't going to tell him, so I threw the letter away and pretended it had never happened."

Anna clenched her fist, "Hunters," she began.

"I know," Hannah said, almost in a whisper, "I remember. We were bad off ourselves, I'd just had a mastectomy for breast cancer, and then there were the hospital bills for…" her voice caught. "I didn't know what to do," she said and burst into tears.

Anna sat down beside Hannah, mindful of the almost extinguished cigarette and wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders, "Don't worry," Anna told her in her firmest, comforting voice, "You'll get your son back. These FBI guys are the best at what they do, and I am, or I know, the best. You'll see."

 


	7. Turner

It was one of those little restaurants, a place the locals came back to because the food was good, and the waitresses friendly.

The number of cars out front enticed travelers to give the little place a chance.

The man who entered the restaurant overlooked the knotted pine paneling, rough concrete floors, antler light fixtures, and obligatory humorous signage in favor of exits and people. One person, an older middle age African American, glared at him. "Rufus," the traveler said with a nod.

"Singer," Rufus replied.

"Your niece is in trouble," Bobby said, walking over to Rufus's table. He smiled briefly at the hovering waitress. "I'm here unofficially, but it won't be long before the FBI come looking for you."

"Why me?" Rufus asked.

"You remember when their little boy and a whole bunch of others got sick five years ago?" Bobby asked, and dropped his voice slightly, "You asked your friend, the  _faith healer,_  to help the kids. He's back and he's kidnapped them, all of the children who were sick."

Rufus sat back, staring at the table. Whatever emotions he felt, he showed only a shocked concern. "What do you need?" He asked Bobby.

"Just be the paranoid old occultist we all know you are," Bobby replied quietly, "and babble to your federal guests about your good friend the faith healer, the one you could never picture doing anything like this. That's all we need you to do." He turned to the approaching waitress, "Can I get a cup of coffee and a Reuben sandwich? To go, please."

"Are you ok, Rufus?" The waitress asked.

Rufus nodded, "Yes," he said, and turned to Bobby, "You'll let me know, won't you, when they find him."

"Of course," Bobby said. "I still owe you a few favors." He paused, glancing up at the waitress headed away. "I hate to put you on the spot," Bobby added, "but we're trying to keep the feds out of hunting business. Even with one of our own in there, it ain't easy."

/…/

Derek watched as Anna checked her phone again, "Is something wrong?" He asked finally.

Anna smiled a little, "Not really, I'm just worried about Dean. They're up to something and I don't know what it is."

"Are you sure you want to?" Derek replied, thinking of all the things he suspected that Dean had done or was capable of doing.

"That, I really don't know. It's always a tossup when it comes to what my brothers will think of doing for the entertainment value." Anna sat back with a smile, "Our prank wars were the stuff of legend until Dad made us stop. We were always up to something either separately or together."

"Sounds like a typical childhood," Derek mused.

Anna laughed, the sound bursting out of her in that sudden way that only occurs when the laugh comes by surprise. After a moment, she fell silent, "Sorry, but I don't think there's a person on this planet who would say we had a normal childhood."

Derek shrugged, "I just meant that kids are always getting in trouble."

"Yeah," Anna said dryly.

"Excuse me," a hesitant voice said. Derek and Anna looked up to find the secretary leaning in the door. She was a young woman with dark blond hair pulled back in a bun and blue-grey eyes. Derek had never actually seen her look up; she always stared at her desk when he was around.

"Yes Hailey?" Anna asked, because of course Anna knew the name of the secretary. It was part of her 'method' to talk to everyone around her about what was happening. It wasn't just the case, but she asked about local legends, family, and the school district. Anna had a knack for talking to people when she wanted something.

"There's a phone call for 'an FBI agent', he says his name is Rufus Turner." Hailey said.

"I'll take it," Anna said, jumping to her feet, "which phone?"

"You can use this one here, its line five," Hailey replied, gesturing out the door.

Derek followed the two of them out of the room, leaning against the door frame as Anna picked up the phone, "Hello, Rufus Turner?" Anna said briskly. "This is Anna Campbell; I'm with the FBI team." She wrapped her free hand around her stomach and stared at the wall. "I see, Mr. Turner." She smiled a little and glanced down. "I spoke with your niece, actually. She didn't mention a faith healer." Anna began playing with the phone cord as she listened some more. "Could you tell me the name of this man? It might be pertinent to the investigation." Reaching out, Anna grabbed a pen and scribbled some things down on a post it note she stole of the officer's desk she was using. "Mr. Turner, someone involved with the case may need to contact you again to discuss this, or even visit you in person. Is there a way we can get in contact?" A pause, Anna grabbed a second note, "Sir, I promise, no one outside the team and the officers will have access to this." She scribbled something down and nodded, "All right Mr. Turner. Thank you for coming forward. Hopefully we'll be able to solve this." A final pause, "If it's in my power, you'll know." The pair said farewell and Anna turned, looking triumphant.

"Well?" Derek asked.

"My friends are wonderful people," Anna replied, "where's my phone, oh hell, give me your phone."

Derek handed it over, "I want to know what's going on, Anna."

"I'll explain, just let me talk to Garcia first," Anna said. She flipped his phone open and moments later was grinning at whatever Garcia said, "Really Garcia, if I knew you swung  _that_  way." Then she laughed. "Sorry, I borrowed Derek's phone. I need you to look someone up. Daniel Broadmore." Another long pause, "If you could just get it all ready, Hotch is about to start talking profile and I'd like to trump him for a change." A laugh, "Thanks girl."

Hotch, followed by the rest of the team, walked into the station as Anna handed Derek his phone back, "Ready for the show?" Anna asked with a sly smile before turning, "Hotch! I need to talk to everyone real quick."

Anna pushed Derek into the conference room and took a perch on the conference table, blissfully ignoring Hotch's stare when the other man came in. "Derek?" Hotch asked.

"I have no clue," Derek said, "Anna's the one with the cards today."

Anna smiled sweetly, "I was chatting with Hannah Pembroke yesterday, remember? She told me about how she had an uncle named Rufus Turner who works in the occult circles, or he used to before his paranoia overcame his sanity. Thing is Rufus used to pal around with Uncle Bobby until Hannah's mother died. When I figured that out, I called Bobby. Rufus Turner is a class A nut job, he believes that the supernatural is real and he's their unified target. Thing is, he's got friends in the community, among them is a faith healer. I'm sorry, there are some gifts and abilities that I accept, but faith healing is a crock at the best of times. Turner believes, and got his friend to come down and do some lying of hands or whatever on the kids. According to Mrs. Pembroke, the guy never put in an appearance, but the kids all got better. A few weeks later, Hannah got a," Anna paused, her face going dark in an instant, "a  _bill,"_  she spat the word out as if it were disgusting, "for some kind of 'astral projection healing' that she tossed. Mr. Pembroke never knew about the  _bill,_  and he doesn't know much of anything about Turner. He's very skeptical of religion and regards the supernatural as myths and legends."

"This faith healer," Hotch said, "do you know anything else?"

"Uncle Bobby," Anna replied, "despite what I told him, talked to Turner. Turner called the station here, I talked to him, and he gave me a name. Daniel Broadmore."


	8. A Phone Call

Derek walked into the café the team had been eating breakfast in since their arrival and spotted Anna sitting in a back corner. Waving to the waitress, he headed over to join her, noting both the way there was a ring of empty tables around her and the way Anna didn't look up as he approached. On the table in front of Anna was her notebook, but she wasn't writing in it. It took Derek a moment, be he realized she was drawing in it, and doing rather well. "Morning," Derek said cautiously.

Anna looked up at him, startled. Her eyes were red and watery, "Morning," she replied and closed her notebook. "Sorry," she scooted over to let Derek sit beside her.

"Are you ok?" Derek asked.

Anna opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again, "I'm fine," she said firmly. "I just found out some friends of Dad, people who were honorary uncles to me, were murdered recently."

"What happened?" Derek asked.

"I don't know," Anna said, "Sam wasn't exactly coherent himself. He wouldn't tell me much, but he's afraid that whatever killed them might come after me." She smiled shakily, "It's just one thing after another with my family." An angry look crossed her face and she thumped her fist on the table, "Why can't they just leave us alone? Why are we always in the middle of it? Why do people my family cares for die?" A few tears slid out of Anna's eyes, and she brushed them away roughly. Derek's mind raced to give her an answer, but nothing came of it. Anna smiled a little, "I'm sorry, Derek. I didn't meant o dump on you. I'll be fine."

"Is everything all right, you two?" The waitress asked.

"Fine," Anna said, "I'm sorry about that. Can I get some more coffee and pie, please?"

"Coffee for me to," Derek added.

"Sure," the waitress said, "are the other agents coming in soon?"

"I suppose so, Mary," Anna replied. "Thank you."

"Not a problem, sweetheart," Mary said and walked off.

"How do you do that?" Derek asked.

"Do what?" Anna asked as she leaned back.

"Charm every waitress in every diner you walk into," Derek replied.

"It's not that hard," Anna replied, "I'm polite, I'm not difficult, and I don't make a lot of demands. It's also why people give me looks of sympathy when I'm with you guys, because I get tarred with the same brush."

"I am not demanding," Derek said.

"Princess," Anna said, putting her hand on his arm, "last night, you spent half an hour deciding to get what you always get at a Mexican restaurant, and then sent it back three times. Reid's list of food he won't eat is longer than my arm, Gideon terrifies the waitresses, and look, there they all are." She smiled as the rest of the team came in the diner, "So, I was thinking about our friend the faith healer."

"Yeah?" Derek asked.

"He was here five years ago, we know that. Some occultists are survivalist types, like my dad, and part of their living comes from credit card fraud and fake IDs. Maybe Garcia can check and see if there were any credit cards in use in the area that were later declared fraudulent, and see who turns up." Anna shrugged, "Just a thought, I mean, I'm sure there are a ton of ways to do this."

"It's a good one," Hotch said as he took a seat. "I was going to call Garcia after breakfast with a similar request."

"Your brothers commit credit card fraud?" Reid asked.

"Not anymore," Anna replied, "I told them, Al Capone got caught for tax evasion, and you are not going down for credit card fraud. They have cards on my account. At least Sam does, I don't trust Dean with my credit."

/…/

It had been a long and ultimately fruitless day, with a lot of false leads, and very little hope. Derek was cleaning up the remains of their meal when Anna's phone rang. She looked at it for a long moment before answering, "Hello?" Derek stilled, watching her. "Sam? Why do you have Dad's phone?" Anna was silent for a moment, "You do, how, where? What's going on?" She turned to Derek and snapped her fingers, mouthing 'paper' to him. Derek slid her notebook, with it's pen on top, over to her. "When did this happen?" She asked as she wrote something down. "Is anyone hurt?" She held the notebook up.

GET HOTCH, BROS FOUND KIDS, ALL HOSTAGE

Derek spun and practically tore the door down to get out of the conference room, "Hotch!" He shouted, "Get in here, now!"

Hotch and Gideon all but ran to him, "What's happening?" Derek heard someone ask.

"Anna's on the phone with Sam," Derek said, lowering his voice. "She says he found the kids, that they're being held hostage." He stepped out of the way and let Hotch and Gideon into the conference room. Then he yanked out his cell phone, speed dialing the number he knew best.

"Office of Supreme Genius," Garcia said.

"Baby girl," Derek said, "I need you to run a trace on Anna's phone, find the location of the cell phone that's calling her. We may just have gotten a huge break."

"I'm on it," Garcia replied.

Derek stepped back into the conference room, "Garcia's tracing the call," he told Gideon.

"Sam, can I talk to one of the kids?" Hotch asked. Anna had clearly handed the phone over to him. "Hello? My name is Aaron Hotchner with the FBI, who are you?" They all went still as J.J., Elle and Reid came in, "Hello Chrissy," Hotch said. "You've been very brave. Can you tell me are any of you hurt?"

Derek slid over to J.J., "Anna's brother called," he said softly, "He's being held hostage, with the missing children."

"I'm very glad none of you are hurt by the men," Hotch said, "we're going to come get you, ok? It's going to be just fine."

Derek's phone beeped and he answered, "Hello?"

"I have your location," Garcia announced, "It's back of beyond, but it has an address and a road."

"Thanks Garcia," Derek said. He grabbed some paper and a pen off the table, "Where are we going today?"

Derek hung up just moments after Hotch did, "All right," Hotch said, "what appears to have happened is Sam and Dean Campbell were hunting with their father, John, in a cabin north of here. Earlier tonight, they had an argument and a gun was discharged, striking John Campbell. Shortly thereafter, their cabin was invaded by six men and a woman. The Campbells fought back, resulting in severe injuries to Dean, and giving Sam what might be a concussion. He only knows that he blacked out. When he woke up, they were in the basement of the cabin with the children. Somehow, John Campbell kept his phone and Sam used it to call Anna."

"Garcia traced the call," Derek said, "We have a location."

"We need to move," Gideon said.

"I'll explain what's happened," J.J. said.

"Good," Hotch said, "everyone, suit up. Anna?"

"Do you want me on the ground?" Anna asked, lowering her hand. "I want to say I can handle this, but it's my family."

"You'll be with me," Hotch replied. "If the kidnappers use the kids as shields, do you think you can handle sniper work?"

"If I can't, I'll tell you, sir."


	9. Raid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this. The story isn't over yet. Just as a reminder, this is pre Fisher King for CM and crosses the events of Salvation, Devil's Trap, and In My Time of Dying. Note, there are changes due to my creative license.

Their arrival at the cabin was as inconspicuous as they could manage by parking the vehicles back down the incredibly rough road and easing up on the cabin in near silence. Morgan followed Anna through the forest, noting how she moved through the woods like a ghost, especially compared to the other agents and the deputies. "Anna," Hotch breathed into the radio, "see if you can get a look through the window."

"Sir," Anna replied and moved forward. Morgan paused by a tree, straining through the night to watch his partner. After a long moment, Anna spoke up, "I see three of the men, and the woman. The men are playing cards at the table; the woman is reading a book. As I said before, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. Shall I look in them as well?" Morgan remembered the look on Anna's face as she had explained back at the station how her family had used the cabin before. It had an open floor plan kitchen and living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The trapdoor to the basement was in one of the bedrooms.

"Can you get to the basement?" Hotch asked.

"I don't see an exterior access," Anna said.

"Pull back, Anna," Hotch said.

Moments later, Anna materialized beside Morgan, rising out of a bush he could have sworn would barely have hidden a child, much less a six foot tall woman. "What now?" she breathed as she slid over to him.

"Morgan, Anna, move around back and meet up with the deputies there. On my mark, you two will come in the back door. Elle and Gideon will come in front."

"Right," Morgan said.

"Sir," Anna added. They moved around to the back of the cabin, crouching beside a black car that Morgan recognized as Dean's Impala. He briefly wondered why it was parked around back, but Hotch spoke over the radio.

"Go now."

Morgan nodded to the deputies and followed Anna's charge across the distance to the porch. Anna kicked the door and shouted, "Freeze, FBI."

"Federal Agents!" Morgan added as they burst into the room.

A gun went off, and Anna ducked slightly. Morgan pulled to the left, and Anna was shooting. Morgan fired his gun as two men came out of one of the bedrooms, armed with shot guns. Then Gideon and Elle were there, with the deputies taking down the men who hadn't fired. When Morgan looked again, Anna had her gun on the woman, who was sitting calmly in a rocking chair. They were staring at each other, Anna's face pulled back in an expression of hatred that made her normally beautiful features appear ugly. "Stand up," Anna said.

The woman didn't move.

"Stand up," Anna ordered her again.

The woman smiled, "This isn't over,  _Winchester."_

Anna snarled, or the woman did, Morgan wasn't sure, because the woman had come out of the chair faster than he had expected. Anna ducked her first strike and followed up with a punch of her own. The punch never landed, because the woman darted away, shoving Gideon over and vanishing outside. "Hotch," Morgan said tersely, "runner."

There was a gunshot, and Hotch said, "Not anymore."

"Cellar," Anna said, and headed into one of the bedrooms. Derek followed her. There was a body on the bed, clearly dead. "Looks like someone did for before they took the family down," Anna commented, looking at the body, "he bled out."

Derek nodded and followed as Anna found and pulled up the trap door. There were some whimpers, but Anna smiled, "Is everyone ok?" She called as she slipped down the stairs. "I'm Anna Campbell, an FBI agent."

Morgan followed Anna down, turning on his flashlight as he did so. Thirteen children were sitting the basement, bound hand and foot, as well as tied to each other. Behind the stairs, Morgan noticed after a moment, were the three Campbells. Dean was lying flat, bruised, and bloody; Sam was standing, leaning against the wall. He kept blinking and shaking his head as if he couldn't see well. John was sitting, one leg stretched out in front of him, eyes half open. "Morgan?" Hotch called.

"We found them," Morgan replied. "We're going to need stretchers for the Campbells."

"We're fine," Sam said, lifting his chin slightly.

"Sam," Anna said as she knelt beside Dean, "don't argue. Dad needs that leg looked at and Dean might have internal bleeding."

"Morgan," Hotch called, "come up here please."

Morgan hurried up the stairs to join Hotch in the bedroom, "What's up?" He asked.

"The ambulance that was coming have run into a problem," Hotch said quietly.

"Yeah?" Morgan asked.

"The ambulance broke it's axle, so they have to get a tow out to pull it back to town."

"Not good," Morgan said.

"There's another road," Anna said as she came up the stairs. "I thought that maybe the road had just gotten rough since the last time I came this way, but Sam told me there was a different road that they used. Apparently we used the back way."

Hotch frowned at her. "Anna, your arm."

Anna glanced down, looking surprised to see that her arm was cut, "Damn, I'm bleeding," she muttered.

"Shouldn't you be asking to go to the hospital about now?" Morgan asked, even as he knew the answer.

"If the ambulance is held up," Anna said, giving Morgan a dirty look, "then you'll have to take the kids in the SUVs. Let me take my family down in the Impala. I swear, I'll take them to the hospital, this will just get us out of the way." She knelt down and glanced under the bed, barely looking at the bloody sheets and body. "There it is," she added.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"The gun that shot my dad before the whole thing went down," Anna replied. "I know we need to take it into evidence, but I'd like it to be returned to my family if at all possible. It's an antique, and a family heirloom."

"Then why was it here?" Hotch asked.

"Dad's truck broke down," Anna said, "he had been carrying it, but since they were all in the Impala for this little hunting trip, he put it in the Impala. Sam said they'd brought it in to clean it, and he didn't realize it was loaded until it went off."

"I'll need statements," Hotch began.

"I know," Anna replied, "but I think Dean's bleeding internally, he needs to be at a hospital now. Sam's coherent enough to give me directions, so is Dad." She tugged at her sleeve, "I can drive them down in the Impala, put a flare at the turn off to the cabin on the way, and we'll be easy to find when you're ready for statements."

Morgan could tell that Hotch didn't want to make the call, but then he nodded. "Go," he told Anna. "Drive safe."

Anna grinned brightly, "I'll need a board and some help getting Dean up. We can put him in front and Dad and Sam in back."

In moments, they had the Campbells in the Impala and Anna left with a roar of the engine. "I'm not sure that was wise," Gideon commented.

"Anna was hurt and she'd be unable to focus," Hotch replied, "it was a tactical decision. Besides, Dean needs to get to a hospital as fast as possible."

"I'll back you," Gideon told him.

Morgan, busy putting blankets around children, smiled a little at that. They would all back Hotch.

Through some luck, Gideon drew the short straw to drive an SUV full of children to the hospital while Morgan drove the rest of the team. They eased back down the horrible road to the highway and headed back into town. They had gone about five miles when they found the wreck.

An eighteen wheeler had t-boned a somewhat familiar black car. "Anna," Morgan whispered as they stopped. He threw the SUV into park and tumbled out, "Call an ambulance," he shouted over his shoulder as he ran for the car.

An old trucker stood by the car, bleeding from a head wound, "What happened?" Gideon demanded of him.

"I must have fallen asleep," the trucker said, "I didn't even see them."

Morgan looked in the car. The truck had t-boned on the driver's side, hitting Anna and Sam head on. "Anna," Morgan said, leaning over her door.

"Hi," Anna said, giving him a bloody smile. "Tell Hotch, I'm sorry."

"You'll be fine," Morgan said, "help's already on its way."

Anna nodded a little, "How's Dean?" She asked.

Morgan looked up and saw Elle checking Dean's pulse, "He's got a pulse," she said.


	10. Bad Moon

As much as Morgan enjoyed watching the children be reunited with their parents, he itched to get to the hospital to check on Anna. She had been coughing blood by the time the helicopters arrived to whisk the four Campbells away, and barely responsive. "Morgan," Hotch said, cutting through Morgan's thoughts. "Let's go."

Hannah Pembroke caught Morgan's sleeve, "Where is Agent Campbell?" She asked quietly.

Morgan hesitated, "She was injured, ma'am," he said finally. "We're about to see her in the hospital now." He managed a smile, "Anna will be fine, Mrs. Pembroke. You should worry about your son."

Hannah nodded and turned to hug her son again, pulling his brother to her as she did so. Morgan turned and hurried to join his team as they slipped out of the building. "We do still need to do our reports," Gideon said, "but we'll check on Anna first." They climbed into the SUV, with Hotch driving and Gideon beside him.

"Have we heard anything?" Elle asked as she buckled up in the row behind Morgan.

"Just that she's still in emergency surgery," Hotch replied.

Morgan swallowed. "Morgan," Gideon said as Hotch pulled away from the station, "do you know why that woman called Anna Winchester?"

Morgan shook his head, in fact, he'd almost forgotten, "I don't," he said, "but Anna seemed to know the woman. Maybe we should ask her."

"We could," Hotch said, "if the woman was still around. She escaped."

"What about Broadmore?" Reid asked.

"That was the dead body," Gideon replied.

"Wow," Elle said, "not exactly a banner day for us."

The team fell into silence as Hotch drove to the hospital, where they piled out quickly. They headed into the main entrance and Hotch lead the way to the desk. "I'm FBI Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner," he told the woman behind the desk, holding up his badge, "one of my agents, Anna Campbell, was admitted earlier this evening."

The woman nodded and typed on her computer for a moment, "She's still in surgery, sir. They have her on the second floor. The elevator is just down there, go left on the second floor, you'll see the nursing station before you get to the waiting room."

"Thank you," Hotch replied.

They headed upstairs, where Gideon spoke to the nurse at the station and the others found seats in the waiting room. "Do you think there's a law somewhere that says waiting room chairs in hospitals must be uncomfortable?" Morgan asked Elle as they settled.

Elle shook her head with a slight smile. Gideon came over to them, "The nurse is letting someone know we're here. I took the liberty of checking on Anna's family. Sam Campbell had only lacerations and bruises to add to his concussion, he'll be staying the night for observation. John Campbell has a dislocated shoulder in addition to his gun shot, it was a through and through on his left thigh, with minor bruises and lacerations. Dean sustained severe internal injuries at the hands of their captors, multiple broken bones, plus a concussion that was made worse during the accident. They've already done some exploratory surgery to deal with the internal bleeding. He's still unconscious with no sign of waking up."

"Excuse me," someone said as the team exchanged glances, "are you here for Agent Campbell?"

It was a doctor in a bloody apron, who looked exhausted. "Yes," Hotch said, standing, "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, this is SSA Jason Gideon. How is Agent Campbell?"

"She's still in surgery," the doctor said, "Our pulmonary specialist is overseeing the operation." He took a deep breath, "I assume you were aware that Agent Campbell carried shrapnel in her back?"

"Yes," Hotch said, "she's a former Marine, medical discharge, because of it."

"Of course," the doctor nodded. "The force of the eighteen wheeler striking Agent Campbell's vehicle was at such force that the shrapnel entered her right lung. We've managed to inflate the lung, and our specialist is currently removing the shrapnel. Agent Campbell is looking at a very long, very difficult recovery, given that we had to break several of her ribs to reach the shrapnel. It's entirely possible that her injuries will preclude Campbell from working as a field agent ever again. Not to mention the damage to her brain; there is significant cranial swelling at this point, if it gets any worse." He took a deep breath, "We cannot predict how she will recover at this juncture." He looked at each of them, "I am sorry for this, but I must get back to the surgery."

"Do whatever it takes," Hotch told him in the impassive, unemotional way that Morgan knew was his best defense against breaking down.

Morgan put his hand around Elle's shoulders as the other agent buried her face in her hands. All they could do was wait for news.

/…/

The doctor didn't return for three hours, long enough for Morgan to make a coffee run to the cafeteria and for the sheriff to come by with even more bad news. The men they'd arrested at the cabin were dead, throats slit. The camera in the jail had gone to static just before they died. The sheriff also brought Anna's backpack with him, explaining that there had been a reporter snooping around.

Derek took charge of the bag, unsurprised to find Anna's notebook on top when he opened it. He zipped it closed again and set it on the chair beside him. "Agent Hotchner?"

They all looked up as the doctor appeared, "Yes?" Hotch asked.

"Agent Campbell has made it through surgery," the doctor said. "While she is in recovery now, she is not out of the woods yet."

/…/

_"Don't come around tonight, it's bound to take your life."_

Anna opened her eyes and groaned. She was in a hospital bed. She sat up, and then stood up, mildly surprised that she didn't hurt. Leaving the bed behind, growling at her hospital gown, she headed for the door. She was going to find some shoes and an AMA form if that was what it took to get out of the hospital, she'd spent to damn much of her time in one already.

The corridor was empty; from the window at the end of the hall, she could tell it was night time. Anna turned away from the window and walked down the hall, shivering a little in the cold air. The corridor opened into a waiting room on the left and Anna looked in to see Elle, Derek, and Reid sitting there. "What happened?" She asked as she walked over to them, "and where are my clothes, my shoes, my, is that my backpack? Hand it over Morgan."

None of them looked at her.

"Hello," Anna said, waving her arms a little.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Reid asked quietly.

"I don't know," Morgan replied. "I really don't know, Reid."

"Hotch is going to get busted for this," Elle said, "He shouldn't have let Anna leave."

"It's not Hotch's fault," Reid said, "Dean was hurt and needed to get to a hospital quickly."

"But Hotch let Anna drive," Morgan said.

"What happened?" Anna demanded a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Any word?" A voice asked and J.J. walked past Anna without looking at her.

"Nothing," Morgan said. "Any news about Hotch?"

"No," J.J. replied. "Strauss hasn't called him back. I did stop by and see Sam. He borrowed my cell phone to call Mr. Singer about the Impala."

"What about the Impala?" Anna asked.

"The Impala is totaled," Morgan said, "they'd be better to sell it for scrap."

Anna shook her head and looked back down the hall to her room. "No way," she whispered before heading down the hallway again. There, in the bed, was her body.

_"There's a bad moon on the rise."_


	11. Something Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much thanks to new beta, Walking on Rain aka Nutcase 2.

**Morgan arrived back at the hospital five hours after he’d been strong armed to the hotel by Hotch and Gideon. Gideon had stayed in case something happened, and Morgan wasn’t about to let him wait alone. He walked over to the front desk, where another man was already talking to the nurse on duty. Morgan sized him up for a moment, tall, blond hair shot with gray, wrinkles around his eyes, and mouth, dressed in blue jeans and a button down. There was a cowboy hat sitting on the counter, “My name is Andrew McCrae,” the man said, “I’m a US Marshal, I’m looking for Anna Campbell,” he said in the slow way of a person who was repeating himself.**

 **

“McCrae,” Morgan said, remembering Anna’s friend, and Hotch’s comment about the man being a Marshal. He also remembered Anna passing the man off as an ex boyfriend and quadriplegic.

“Yes?” McCrae said.

“Special Agent Derek Morgan,” Morgan said, “I work with Anna Campbell.”

“How is she?” McCrae asked.

“I was just heading up to find out,” Morgan nodded to the nurse, “SSA Jason Gideon’s been here waiting for news.”

“Mind if I come up?” McCrae asked.

“Sure,” Derek said, “I know that Gideon and Hotch wanted to talk to you.”

“Hotch, you mean Hotchner?” McCrae asked as they headed for the elevator.

“Yeah,” Derek said with a shrug, “everyone calls him Hotch though.”

“I take it they want to know about my phone call.” McCrae said as they entered the elevator.

“Something like that,” Morgan agreed. “Anna basically told Hotch she wouldn’t talk about it with him because she didn’t trust him.”

“One thing about Anna,” Andy said, “you can’t give her orders if she refuses to accept them. I never understood how she did so well in the Marines with her attitude problem.”

“Anna does well with a team actually,” Morgan replied as the doors opened. “She just has to respect your leadership.” He led the way to where Gideon was sitting in the waiting room. “Gideon,” Morgan said, “This is Andrew McCrae, from the US Marshals. He’s here about Anna.”

Gideon stood, “Morgan,” he said, “Andrew, good to see you again.” The pair shook hands while Morgan waited.

“You to, Jason,” McCrae said. “How’s Anna?”

“In recovery for another few hours,” Gideon replied. “They were able to get the shrapnel out, but her lung is damaged.” Morgan sat down as relief made his head spin. He hadn’t realized how tense he was until that moment.

McCrae nodded, “So, it was a car wreck?”

“Yes,” Gideon said, “an eighteen wheeler struck the driver’s side of the vehicle, the driver fell asleep.”

“Excuse me, Agent Gideon?”

Morgan looked up to find Sam Campbell hesitantly approaching them. “Sam,” Gideon and McCrae replied in unison.

Sam blinked, and then smiled a little, “Marshal McCrae, Agent Gideon, Agent Morgan.”

“I thought you were with Dean,” McCrae said finally.

“We kind of got tangled up with Anna’s case,” Sam replied. “I came down here to ask if I should go by the station for my statement.” Morgan eyed the tall young man, noting the sling on his arm, various bruises, and the way he looked exceptionally uncomfortable in his clothes. “I was also hoping to hear about the Colt? I know it was under the bed and all, but it’s a family heirloom.”

“I can’t answer you about the Colt,” Gideon said slowly, “but from what I understand, you did shoot your father, Sam.”

/…/

I see the bad moon rising.

Anna wandered down the hall, bored with the recovery room, looking for something to do since her team had been sent back to the hotel by Gideon, who had bought a Sudoku puzzle from the gift shop and settled in to wait. As she reached the waiting room, she glanced up, “Well hello,” she breathed. Gideon was no longer alone, Morgan had joined him, but that was not what got Anna’s attention, nor was it Sam, looking like the survivor of a bar brawl. Andrew McCrae, her personal super hero, was there.

Not that Anna had ever admitted out loud that the Texan cowboy, old enough to be her dad, was anything more than an annoyance, much less to the man himself.

“Anna?”

Anna turned, distracted from the conversation about the Colt. “Dean,” She all but squealed, throwing herself at her brother. “Finally, someone who can see me, can you believe this? It’s an actual out of body experience, so cool. I always wanted to try something like this, but I hadn’t gotten around to it.”

“Laur,” Dean began even as he hugged her back just as tightly.

“Don’t,” Anna said as she pressed a hand to Dean’s mouth firmly, “don’t slip, Dean. Not yet.”

“Sorry,” Dean said when she lowered her hand. He looked around for a moment, nervously, “Anna, there’s a reaper, and I think it’s after me.”

“Shit,” Anna replied. “How bad are you hurt?”

“Something about my brain,” Dean replied, “you know I don’t understand that doctor talk.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Anna said. “Sam’s here, where’s Dad?”

“He’s awake, healing,” Dean said. “You and I are the ones hurt the worst.”

“Figures,” Anna muttered. “McCrae’s here. I think he’s going to spill the beans if Sam leaves.”

“Why would he wait, Sam knows,” Dean said, not looking away from her.

“Because Sam wants to get the Colt back,” Anna said. “Can you imagine how Dad’s going to react to knowing the cops have the gun and the bullet?”

Dean shook his head, “What are we going to do with those to, Anna? They’re like oil and water.”

“They’re too much alike,” Anna corrected him. “That’s where that Yellow Eyed Bastard screwed up. Killing Jess didn’t make Sam curl up in a ball it sent him looking for vengeance. If Dad hadn’t already done the research for Mom, Sam would be the one tracking down Hunters, learning dead languages, and reading books that fall apart as he stares.”

“What about you?” Dean asked, “You looking for vengeance?”

“On who, the punk who made the IED or the bastards that set it? Nope,” Anna shook her head, trying not to let on that something was wrong. Dean didn’t ask those questions, not of her, not of anyone. Dean wouldn’t call her anything but Anna until the job was done. John had trained him and Anna had reinforced it. 

Dean shook his head, “You know exactly who I’m talking about.”

Anna turned away, looking at McCrae. “I want to catch him. I want him to know justice for what he did. If that punishment is a bullet, then I’d like to shoot him yeah, but if it’s Morgan, Gideon, or anyone on the team, I can take it. Hell, I could handle it if it was McCrae who took the shot. I just want him to know justice. Not just for me either, but for all the other girls he’s left broken and shattered behind him.” She slid a glance at her brother’s face and turned. “I’m going to go see Dad.” She bounced away, heading down the hall to the stairs that led up to the third floor and down to the first. Her focus was on keeping her stride even, as if she was ducking a particularly painful conversation, which she was, with her brother, which he was not. The whole way, she felt the being’s eyes on her back, like two lasers boring into her.

I see trouble on the way.

**


	12. Communication

Hope you got your things together

  


Anna waited until the creature posing as Dean had left, then she slipped back over to follow Sam. He’d clearly not gotten a good answer from Gideon about the gun and was now headed off to do something else. She followed him, wondering if he was heading to see Dean, but felt disappointed when he stopped at the nurse’s station one floor down. “What are you doing crazy?” She asked, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

“I was hoping I could get the bag back,” Sam said to the nurse, a matronly black woman in a pretty floral set of scrubs.

“Sure honey,” the nurse said sweetly, handing him a backpack, “it wasn’t no problem to watch that. How’s your sister doing?”

Sam’s face became gloomier, “Still hasn’t woken up yet,” Sam replied, “but they don’t expect her to, not yet.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” the nurse replied soothingly.

“Oh, you are a lying liar,” Anna declared, “and Sam, if you fall for that, I’m not going to know you anymore.”

“You think he’d fall for that?”

Anna spun to find Dean watching her, “Ok, are you real Dean?” Anna asked, “Or are you the creepy creature who looks like Dean because if you’re the creepy creature I warn you, I’m very good at my job.”

“It’s the real me, Huntress,” Dean said, “What do you mean, ‘creepy creature’?”

“It’s nothing. Just some creepy spirit thing tried to pass off as you. I knew he was fake.” Anna tried her hardest to hide her relief at being with her brother. Dean was, when all was said and done, the only one who took her self-claimed Huntress title seriously.

“Only you would find something more interesting than a Reaper,” Dean joked as Sam left the nurse’s station.

“And only you would be surprised to find a Reaper in a hospital,” Anna retorted.

They entered Dean’s room and Anna didn’t look at her brother’s body. “Dean, if you’re here, there is a way for us to talk,” Sam announced.

“Oh no,” Anna said as Sam pulled a spirit board from his backpack, “tell me he didn’t spend money on that.”

“I can’t believe he’s going to use it,” Dean responded in disbelief, “I hope I remember to give him a hard time about this.”.

“It works,” Anna told him, “but you get the same freaking results when you write the letters on a piece of notebook paper and bend another piece.”

Sam sat the board down and looked up, “Dean, are you here?” He asked quietly, putting his hands on the arrow.

Dean and Anna knelt across from him and put a hand on the arrow. “Yes,” Anna said, sliding the pointer.

“Dean,” Sam said.

Anna moved the pointer to the ‘A’, then the ‘N’.

“Anna?” Sam said.

“Yes,” Anna said, moving the pointer.

“Both of you,” Sam shook his head in amusement.

Dean snorted and took over moving the pointer, “Duh.”

“Dean, be nice,” Anna told him, “just because you never managed to make a board work doesn’t mean you can be mean.” She looked down at the board and took over again, “Tell McCrae, to tell Gideon and Hotch about the case.”

“Seriously, message from the beyond and that’s what you’re going to say?” Dean asked.

“It’s an important message,” Anna replied, “Why don’t you try?”

“Sure,” Dean replied. He leaned over the board, as did Sam when it began to move.

“Hunt,” Sam said, “Dean, are you hunting? What are you hunting? Which one is talking?”

Dean moved the pointer again, spelling out his name before answering the second question.

“A Reaper,” Sam breathed. He blinked several times, “Is it after you Dean?” He watched the pointer move to the positive side, “What about you Anna?”

Anna bumped Dean with her shoulder, “I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?” Sam and Dean exclaimed in an unwitting unison.

“Something is,” she told Dean as she spelled it slowly. “I just don’t know what it is.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Dean told her.

“I’ll help,” Sam said, “let me go ask Dad.” He stood up and headed out.

Anna stood up to, “Where are you going?” Dean asked.

“Just looking around a bit,” Anna replied. She glanced around and spotted the creature impersonating Dean again, “Dean,” she said, “I’ll be right back.”

“Anna,” Dean began, but Anna ignored him as she stormed down the hall.

“You,” she said when she got closer, “you’re a reaper, aren’t you!”

The creature turned away and walked down the hallway, and Anna followed. They went down a back flight of stairs into the basement, walking out in time to see John entering a door down the way. “Hey,” Anna said, “what are you doing?”

The creature touched his finger to his lips and Anna closed her mouth. She was close enough to hear John speaking to someone and what she heard filled her with horror.

  


Hope you are quite prepared to die

  


//...//

  


After reading his dad’s journal, Sam decided to go up and speak with Marshal McCrae. He left the journal sitting open on a chair in the corner of the room and headed for the elevator. The Marshal was still in the waiting room, talking now with Agent Hotchner. Agent Gideon was nowhere in sight, but Doctor Reid had joined Agent Morgan as well. “Marshall McCrae,” Sam said, “Agent Hotchner.”

“Sam,” McCrae said, “any news?”

“Not really,” Sam replied. “I was wondering if I could speak with you privately, please?”

“Of course,” McCrae said, they walked down the hallway out of earshot. “What’s going on, Sam?”

“Anna said you know Hunters,” Sam said quietly.

“I do,” McCrae agreed.

“Then you’d believe me if I said Anna’s spirit told me to tell you something,” Sam continued.

“Depends on what was said.” McCrae admitted after a moment of consideration.

Sam winced a little, because he couldn’t really believe that Anna wanted this. “Anna wants you to tell Hotch and Gideon about the case.”

“How did you come by this information?” McCrae asked, giving him a disbelieving look.

“I used one of those ‘magical, talking boards’.” Sam admitted, looking at his boots, “I thought, well, Dean was hanging around, and he is. Marshal, there’s a Reaper after him, and maybe Anna too.”

“There’s nothing I can do about a Reaper,” McCrae reminded him.

“I know,” Sam replied, “I should get back. If something happens?”

“I’ll send someone to get you,” McCrae promised.

//...//

Andrew McCrae watched Sam Winchester return to the elevator and sighed. There went a kid who had the world on his shoulder. Turning, Andrew saw Hotchner watching him and he gestured. Hotchner walked over, “Well?”

“Kid wants the gun back,” Andrew said, “probably figures his dad’s going to raise nine kinds of hell over it ending up in the police evidence locker.”

“There isn’t much we can do,” Hotchner said.

“I know that,” Andrew replied. “Listen, I’ve been thinking, and Sam agreed with me. You should know why I’m so interested in Anna.”

“Are you sure you should, Anna seemed pretty adamant that she would tell me,” Hotchner said, “I don’t want her to get mad.”

“Anna’s always mad about something,” Andrew laughed, he sobered after a brief moment. “Anna isn’t technically in WitSec at the moment, she removed herself from the program the first chance she could, but she used to be. She remains the only person who can identify a very dangerous man. About eight years ago, I worked with David Rossi on a case. It was a team, targeting young women. Anna was one of their victims, except we got there before she could be killed. We had to shoot one of them, the other escaped.” Andrew took a deep breath, “We’ve been seeing the unsub’s work off and on for years since then, but his pattern changed.”

“What do you mean?” Hotchner asked.

“After we freed Anna, he’s been going after short, blond haired women Anna’s age. He doesn’t always kill, but he leaves a signature.” Andrew held up his hand before Hotchner could interrupt, “We’ve tried to convince Anna that WitSec was the best place for her, but she refuses. She entered the program in the beginning because she was a minor and her father consented. As soon as she graduated high school, Anna changed her name and went into the Marines.”

“DADDY!”

It was a scream ripped from the back of a woman’s throat, a snarl of sound that was like a physical representation of fear and hatred.

It was coming from Anna’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention, the lyrics all come from Credence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising


	13. End of an Era

When Morgan reached Anna's room she was leaning up, struggling to get out of bed while a nurse held her down. "Anna," he said soothingly, "calm down. Why are you so upset?"

Startled by Morgan's voice, Anna stopped moving, "My dad," she said in a voice choked with tears, "there's something wrong. Please, you have to find him."

Morgan turned, and Elle, standing behind him nodded, "I'll run down there and check on all of them."

"Elle's going," Morgan told Anna as he approached the bed, "why do you think there's something wrong?"

Anna leaned back as the nurse brought the bed up, "I don't know, I just feel that something is wrong." She glanced around, "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Gideon asked as he leaned against the wall by the doorway.

"We were heading down the road," Anna replied, "My dad, Sam, Dean and I, we were going to the hospital."

"You were hit," Gideon said carefully, his eyes focused on Anna's face. "A truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit the Impala."

"Oh no," Anna said, stunned. She looked at Morgan, "The others?"

"They're all here," Morgan told her calmly, "Sam's already been discharged, he said your dad's going to be fine too."

"What about Dean?" Anna demanded, "Morgan, what about Dean?"

"He's awake," Sam said, skidding through the door. "Dean, oh, Anna, you're awake too. Dean just woke up."

"How is he?" Anna asked.

"He's doing ok," Sam replied, "whatever his head injury was, it's not as bad as they thought or something."

"Something," Anna whispered.

"What?" Sam asked.

Anna shook her head, "Just, weird dreams is all. Did anything happen while I was out?" She looked from Sam to Morgan and then to Gideon.

"You have another visitor," Hotch announced from the doorway, he stepped in and to the side to let Andrew McCrae step in.

"Marshall," Anna said, her face closing off as she looked at him.

"Nice to you too," McCrae said, "Agent Campbell."

"I assume you'll be leaving soon," Anna told him coolly, "like, you're flying out tonight because I'm obviously still able to take care of myself and by the way, aren't our mutual friends in Virginia?"

"I'll be staying at least one more day," McCrae told her, unperturbed by her attitude. "You and I need to have a long talk."

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Anna muttered.

"Anna," Sam said, "do you remember anything that happened while you were sleeping?"

"No, and isn't that a movie?" Anna replied.

Sam's smile was a little sad, "Jess's favorite." He glanced around, "Can I talk to Anna alone please?" He asked the group.

"Sure," Hotch said, "Gideon, might I have a word with you."

"Anna," McCrae said.

"Go away," Anna told him, "you already know my answer."

"You don't even know the subject," McCrae protested.

"Just assume it's 'not if I have to change the life I've made for myself' and move on." Anna snapped.

"I'm going to go get something to drink," Morgan told Sam and Anna, "I'll be back up later."

He stepped outside and headed for the elevator.

/...\\\

"You don't remember, do you?" Sam asked, looking down at Anna.

"No," his sister said, "what should I remember?"

Sam crossed his arms, "You and Dean were spirits, and, I used one of those boards."

"Oh God," Anna moaned, "please tell me you did not spend money on one of those?"

"I did," Sam admitted bashfully.

"You idiot! You could have just done the same thing with a couple of pieces of paper. Why do I even bother?" Anna groaned.

"That's not the point," Sam pointed out patiently, he knew Anna was weird about pain medications, and with her injuries they'd probably given her something exceptionally strong. "Dean said there was a reaper, but you didn't seem sure about it."

"It's a hospital," Anna muttered, "there are reapers. That's not important, unless they were hunting one of us."

"Dean," Sam continued, "said it was after him. You also gave me a second message."

"What?" Anna asked.

"You told me to tell McCrae to tell Hotch about the case, the old case." Sam spoke hesitantly. He watched the blood drain out of Anna's face, "I did, but McCrae, I think he understood. You know you can't talk about what happened. But to him, it's more of a, well, a case, and McCrae would be tactful."

"Hotch, at least, does need to know," Anna admitted, "but, seriously, a wedgie board?"

Sam had to laugh now, even if it had been his mispronunciation that she was referencing. He could still remember that night, and the way they'd had so much fun goofing around. "Anna?"

The siblings looked up to find John Winchester in the doorway, "John," Anna replied, her good mood fading.

"Sam, would you give us a moment," John asked as he stepped into the room.

"Ok," Sam said and slipped past his father. He stopped outside the door, where he could still listen.

"What's going on?" Anna asked.

"I just wanted to tell you," John said quietly, "I'm proud of you. I know you never really forgave me for sending you into the program, but, you've done wonderful things with your life. You had some opportunities I couldn't have given you. I'm sorry about what happened between us, then and now. I just wanted you to be safe."

"Dad," Anna's voice was breaking, "you're scaring me. We're ok. Nothing's going to happen now."

"Always the strong one," John replied, "you have more strength than I ever could. You get that from your mother."

"Dad," Anna repeated.

There was a grunt.

"Dad?" Anna's voice rose.

There was a loud thump, and Anna shouted, "Help!"

Sam rushed into the room to find his dad on the floor, "Stay in the bed," he snapped at Anna, "Somebody, I need some help in here," he hollered as he knelt down by his dad's side.

Nurses rushed in moments later, absently shoving him out of the way as they surrounded John Winchester. Sam got to his feet and backed against Anna's bed, watching in horror as they struggled to revive his father. A slender, but strong, hand gripped his and Sam shuddered a little.

He barely noticed the doctor's arrival, or the way Anna's team flitted around outside the door. "Time of death, 4:33 pm," someone said, cutting through his fog of shock.

Sounds, and feelings, trickled into his understanding. Anna was crying, the FBI were talking, and someone was trying to catch his attention. He sat down on the edge of Anna's bed, still staring at his father's body.

/...\\\\\

The BAU team gathered on the plane the next morning. Strauss had been understanding about Anna up to a point. Now that the agent was on the mend, they were to get back to Quantico, immediately. "So," Elle said, "did anyone ever figure out why that guy kidnapped the kids?"

"Money," Gideon said. "Clearly whatever he did or did not do five years ago, he felt he was entitled to it and had been cheated."

"But why wait five years?" Morgan asked, "Why didn't something happen sooner."

"Garcia said he was in jail," Reid replied, "and he got married. He must have had some reason now to go after the children."

"I feel sorry for his widow," Elle said.

"What about the woman," JJ said as she joined them, "did we ever find out anything about her?"

"I asked Anna," Morgan admitted. "She said that the woman wasn't something we could have done anything about."

Battered, bruised, but breathing as if she'd never injured her lung, Anna had glared at him from her hospital bed. "Don't worry about that," she said, "You wouldn't have held that one for very wrong unless that was exactly what was wanted. We'll catch up again, when I can do things right."

"She called you Winchester," Morgan was compelled to pointed out.

"It's a thing," Anna said, waving her hand, "some people seem to think that you need a name like Winchester to be good at your job. They forget, the Campbells were there first, and for a lot longer."

"What?" Morgan said.

"Never mind," Anna told him, "and let the woman go."

"She also wouldn't explain the Winchester part either," Morgan admitted.

"I'm not surprised," Hotch commented. "Let it go, Morgan. I can't explain, but it's not something we need to worry about now." He glanced over at Gideon who nodded.

"The other mystery," Reid said after a moment, "is who killed the other men."

"Anna said the woman did it," Morgan replied, "to clean up her mess."

"McCrae said the same," Hotch said. "Although he wasn't quite that frank about it."


	14. Farewell

Anna closed her eyes as she was wheeled out of the hospital, Dean beside her. "Where are we going?" Dean asked her quietly.

"To the funeral parlor," she replied as their ride arrived. "Deputy Hatcher, what a nice surprise."

"Well, seeing as your car was damaged," the young deputy said, "we figured it was the least we could do."

"Thank you," Anna said quietly.

Sam and Hatcher helped Dean and Anna into the back of the deputy's car then slid in front. "I understand there won't be a funeral?" Hatcher asked.

"No," Sam replied, "just a small service. There aren't," he paused, "we're the only family Dad had, and Bobby's meeting us there."

"Besides," Anna interjected, "we're a little nondenominational in our funeral services. It's simply easier to do this quietly."

"Right," Hatcher replied.

They arrived at the funeral parlor to find Bobby waiting for them, "Are you sure about this?" Bobby asked as he opened Anna's door.

"Positive," Anna told him firmly, "we're doing this the legal way." She let him help her up, and they all walked into the funeral parlor.

The funeral director was waiting, "I'm not sure about this," he muttered.

"It's legal, isn't it," Anna asked him.

"Yes," he said, "but so, soon."

"Good," Anna replied, "I'm paying for this, we do this my way."

They made their slow, weak way into the main room of the funeral parlor, where John's casket awaited them. "Bobby," Anna said after they'd looked for a minute, "the salt."

She accepted the container he handed her and she stepped forward slowly. Freeing herself from Hatcher's concerned grip, she approached his casket. He looked as if he were sleeping. Tilting her head, Anna scooped salt out of the container and stared at it for a long moment. "I remember," she said, fighting back tears, "learning to shoot, because I was no less than my brothers." She threw the handful of salt over her father's body.

Dean stepped up beside her and drew out his own handful, "I remember," he said, "being safe, because he stood guard over us."

Sam followed, "I remember," he said quietly, "being loved, because he never let us doubt that."

Bobby followed them, "I remember having his back, and knowing that he had mine."

They stood there for a long moment before Anna threw another handful of salt into the casket. Then she quietly began to sing, an old Gaelic funeral song that she had learned the day she had acknowledged that her family would one day die.

When the song was over, they stepped away. "Now we go to my place," Bobby said, "and get you three back on your feet."

Hatcher again helped Anna leave as the director pushed the coffin away to its final journey to the crematorium.


End file.
